Discussion

New Jeff Corwin show Ext Cuisine

Just watched it the other night - Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.After about 5 minutes of his making stupid faces and dumb jokesI had to change the channel.He was very insulting to the Greek woman trying to teach him about Octopus and the other seafood they were serving.Don't see much hope for this show.

Agreed. It seems like almost every "new" Food Network show is just a copy of some other network's popular food show. I don't mind the Food Network, but it's just starting to get really annoying.

I like Jeff Corwin when he does his nature show (the very few times I've seen it), but I agree with the original poster that at times, he seems to be disrespectful to the locals. Like in the Peru episode when he spit out some food into his hand when the cook wasn't looking or when he was wearing their traditional clothing and started talking like one of Santa's elves.

On top of that, he seems to struggle when describing the food or how it's prepared. It's like a producer tells him what to say and then he says it trying to be the "expert". He obviously knows his animals/nature, but he's very unbelievable when it comes talking about food.

I'll stick with Zimmern. Besides, this doesn't seem like a show that you're average FN viewer would be into.

Who is your average FN vIewer?There are several FN shows I enjoy, some I watch, and alot that I can't change the channel fast enough for. This Jeff Corwin show is such a blatant rip-off of Bizarre Foods it's pathetic. He's been to the exact same spots with the exact same people eating the exact same things. This show falls into the catagory of I'll watch it if I absolutely can't find anything better on.

I actually find Corwin's show refreshing in its lack of pretense. Yes, it's obviously a knock-off of "Bizarre Foods," but there's a long-standing tradition in television programming of aping what someone else does successfully. I actually like Corwin's goofy sense of humor and think he doesn't take himself terribly seriously. As often as not Zimmern's show is geared exclusively toward finding the food with the highest gross-out factor, with an almost transparently thin "let's understand the local culture through their food" patina that is typically just barely even lip service.

Corwin is no more or less "disrepectful" than he was in his nature shows (which I also enjoyed). He is clownish, but I don't think it's at all in a demeaning way and I actually think he is often very successful at gaining a rapport with the shows' subjects (something I think Zimmern often doesn't do as well).

I have to agree with the other posters that Corwin looks & acts very uncomfortable. At least when he is talking about something he knows, like with animals, you can see he is comfortable in front of the camera. Even when guested on CSI:Miami years ago, he did okay because he was playing himself and didn't have to do anything really different. FN is asking him to go out on a limb, and to me it looks like he's ready to fall most of the time. His loud, in your face personality works on Animal Planet, not FN.

What is going to happen when he travels to a local that eats species that he feels should not be?

Waitaminite! Jeff Corwin beats out Guy Fieri for "loud and in your face"? Not in a million years, IMHO!

I agree with Frodnesor, I actually find his show refreshing. He may not be as culinarily adept as Zimmern (nor does he profess to be) but I think he's likeable and quirky. I don't see disrespectful in him, just a bit childish.

I just watch his Pacific NW episode. He devotes the whole thing to seafood and fish, and about half the time with area Indian tribes. He got much more into the 'nature' side of the area food than either Tony or Andrew.

Agreed. I've watched several episodes, and it doesn't even matter to me whether it's a rip of or not...the guy is just TERRIBLE. He's always struggling for words and more often than not has that "deer in the headlights" look. I love waiting to hear what words come out of his mouth after he pops some food in. "That's............ delicious/perfect/incredible/ (fiil in other inane non-description)!"I never watched his nature show, so I had no understanding he was a big TV star...wow!

I like it too. I don't watch it regularly but I like it when I do. I think he comes across as just a nice, regular guy with no air of pretention or disdain (yes, I'm referring to Bourdain). And he's much nicer to look at than either Zimmern or Bourdain.